IN PICTURES: Gerry Anderson - from Thunderbirds to Terrahawks

Before Star Wars, Aliens or the Avengers movies was TV legend Gerry Anderson whose puppet heroes - yes you could see the strings - were are the centre of programmes ranging from Joe 90 to Terrahawks.

1. Four Feather Falls

The series was the first to use an early version of Anderson's Supermarionation puppetry. ''Thirty-nine 13-minute episodes were produced, broadcast by Granada from February until November 1960.''The setting is the late 19th-century fictional Kansas town of Four Feather Falls, where the hero of the series, Tex Tucker, is a sheriff. ''The four feathers of the title refers to four magical feathers given to Tex by the Indian chief Kalamakooya as a reward for saving his grandson: two of the feathers allowed Tex's guns to swivel and fire without being touched whenever he was in danger, whilst the other two conferred the power of speech on Tex's horse and dog.''Nicholas Parsons was the voice of Tex

2. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Captain Scarlet presents the hostilities between Earth and a race of Martians known as the Mysterons.'' After human astronauts attack their city on Mars due to a misunderstanding, the vengeful Mysterons declare war on Earth''In the first episode, Scarlet acquires the Mysteron healing factor of "retro-metabolism" and is thereafter considered to be virtually "indestructible", being able to recover fully from injuries that would normally be fatal.''Scarlet's headquarters Cloudbase defended by the Angels, a squadron of five female pilots code-named Destiny (squadron leader), Harmony, Melody, Rhapsody, and Symphony, who fly the Angel Interceptor fighter aircraft

3. Stingray

Set in the 2060s, the series follows the exploits of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP), a military organisation responsible for policing the Earth's oceans. ''The WASP's top vessel is Stingray, a combat submarine piloted by the daring Captain Troy Tempest, aided by his loyal navigator, Lieutenant "Phones", and Marina, a mute young woman from under the sea.

4. Fireball XL5

This followed the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol.''The crew included glamorous Doctor Venus, a doctor of space medicine; middle-aged navigator and engineer Professor Matthew Matic and co-pilot Robert, a transparent, anthropomorphic robot who would most often proclaim ON-OUR-WAY-HOME. ''Robert was the only main character in an Anderson series which was actually voiced by Anderson